Alice In Drearyland
by SimplyxAlice
Summary: What happens when Alice returns for a visit to Wonderland and finds everything completely different--more specific, completely DREARY.


ONCE UPON A TIME…

"Twinkle, twinkle little hole, how I wonder where you….are? Down and low in the ground so deep, how I wish to look and…peep? Oh, peep!" Alice began giggling aloud, although to her-self as she skipped along in the forest. She was searching for the rabbit hole she crawled down into last May, in hope of another adventure with all her friends she made. As she kept skipping and prancing along, she suddenly began falling down into the ground.

"Yaaay! Here we go again!" Alice raised her arms high up as if on a roller coaster. "Hmm…this hole is even longer than before. I wonder—"

OOF!

Alice landed flat on her bottom and without looking up she began to giggle, then her giggles became laughter, and in the next moment she began doubling over with laughter. However, something made Alice stop laughing. It was the utter sound of dead silence. She finally looked up and she let out a gasp.

"Why…this is not the room with the tiny doors, the bottle that said "DRINK ME", or the cake under the table (no table either) that said "EAT ME". All she saw was a big open space. The grass was extremely low cut. On the other hand, after she did some squinting, she saw a forest in the distance. A forest that was tinted gray. Alice pondered on whether to retreat or proceed into the forest. Just as she was about to turn back, she heard it…the cries of all her friends. She could hear everyone's distinct voice one by one, screaming out in horror. The White Rabbit, The Mouse, even The Cheshire Cat and The Mad Hatter. Without thinking, Alice began running in the direction of the forest. Later on, she would hope that she did not see what she saw now. Everything was gray and dark, nothing happy or near living in site. Her friends? Their screams…emanated from the depressing story of how this came. Tears began to trickle down Alice's face. She had a strange urge to look up, when she did; she saw an enormous banner hanging above them all. Suddenly, she sank to her knees and everything went dark.

The banner stated "Welcome to Drearyland." with "Wonderland" crossed out.

* * *

CHAPTER TWO:

When Alice came to, everything was gray. She breathed deeply and sighed at the sight of the dreadfully awful, what she thought to be, magical world. The sky, trees, grass, (dead) flowers, tables, broken games, even she, was gray. She was about to begin crying again when someone clamped their hand over her mouth. Though, it was not their bare hand; it was more of a glove. That's when it hit her! The White Rabbit and his gloves! Her eyes lit up but when she turned to look at him, he was not white at all; he was gray! His eyes were dull and sullen with emotion and even his gloves were gray. After removing his hand, he began patting his gloves to remove any germs.

"Oh White Rab—"

"I prefer to be called Gray Rabbit, Alice. Furthermore, I suggest you find a way out of here. Now. There is no need of your presence here…anymore. As you obviously noticed, Wonderland is no more. It is Drearyland. If you must know why, it is because without you around with us to enchant us with your silly actions, we became depressed. Soon, all our depression accumulated, one day we woke up and we were all gray. Everything was simply dreary."

"But—!"

"But nothing Alice. Do not blame yourself upon this matter. If it makes you feel…happy—hmm, weird, I have not used that word in a long time—I will escort you around to show you everyone's new personál. Although it might be hard for you."

"But Mr. Wh—Gray Rabbit! I want to stay and cheer you all up!"

"PREPOSTORUS! Dear Alice, please understand. Well…you will understand further if I take you on this tour. If you decline, I will simply escort you back to your own world and kind while leaving you in curiosity. Now what would be your answer then?"

"I'll…I will take the tour Mr. Gray Rabbit."

With that settled, the two took off on Mr. Gray Rabbit's gray scooter.

"So—"

"Don't worry Alice, I will explain the entire story in due time." Mr. Gray Rabbit turned an inch and attempted to smile. His lips perked up but his eyes remained the same emotion. Dull.

They rode on in silence until Mr. Gray Rabbit pulled out his handheld watch and announced "We have arrived at our first destination. The Mouse and The Cheshire Cat's home."

"Wait a minute...they live together? I thought they hated each other!"

Mr. Gray Rabbit's eyes lifted in amazement for a second then went back to its dull state.

"Ms. Alice. While you are here in Drearyland, I expect you to accept our beliefs, customs, and laws. Two of our highest customs are: one, never ever raise your voice; two, please do not use the word "hate". It would be preferred if you said dislike. I know you will not be accompanying us long, but please refrain from being dramatic, as you are. Additionally, we will only be visiting these two because I do not think the others are yet ready to handle your presence here, just yet. Do not object either."

"Yes Mr. Gray Rabbit" Alice replied dutifully with her head bowed down. She was beginning to understand why everyone, as well as everything, was overly dreary.

Alice allowed Mr. Gray Rabbit to walk ahead of her, staying out of the way. He lightly knocked on the (gray) door. After a second or two, the door opened and there stood the Cheshire Cat.

"Hello, Cheshire. Pleased to see you."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Gray Rabbit. Come to spread the news? I believe you already made your rounds this morning."

"Yes. I believe I have. Actually, I am here to show you someone. She—"

"Ah..a new citizen of Drearyland? How happy? Also, why me? Or Mouse? I believe we are the tightest family right now. No space for any more people than we have, as you should know."

"Oh no no. It is nothing of the sort. It—the person—is merely a visitor."

"A visitor you say? Now, Mr. Gray Rabbit, contemplate that thought for a while, if you would. What sane person would enjoy visiting Drearyland?"

"I will show you who." Mr. Gray Rabbit stood aside to show Alice, who was standing staring down at her flats.

"Oh my. Well, Alice, my dear. I have not…I do not…oh my. Say, Mr. Gray Rabbit, have you completely lost it? You cannot show her around to the town. You of all people should know that not everyone has finally recovered over the lost of poor Miss Alice. Seeing her…oh dear. There might be a big revolt. Who knows what would happen to us then?"

"No need to worry Cheshire. I only brought her to you and Mouse to explain of all the changes and why she cannot stay here any longer."

"Well then. Miss Alice, come right in." Cheshire motioned for them to enter.

When they entered, Alice let out a tiny gasp. Even though the entire house was gray, that was not what caught her attention. Everything was in an even lighter gray.

"Why—" Alice began to ask.

"Well, Miss Alice. Here's the thing. Dreary is the opposite of bright and/or happy, am I correct? Therefore, here in Drearyland, the happier you are, the lighter shades of gray you are until you get so light, you transform into your own regular colors. However, we do not want to stand out so we try to keep our happiness to a minimum. Although, I must say, we are truly happy."

"Cheshire. Pardon my asking. Where is Mouse?"

"Oh, my dear Mousy is upstairs tending the children. She should be down in a minute."

"Children? Mousy? What is going on?" Alice finally got a full question out.

"Well, hello there, Alice." The Mouse smiled down at her. Alice noticed that her gray was twice as lighter.

"H-Hello."

"Come sit down dear, we have a story to tell."

"A story, you say?"

"Yes, a story on the events after Miss Alice left."

"Ooh, do tell."

* * *

CHAPTER THREE:

"Well, Miss Alice, I will explain about Mousy and I initially. You see, after you left, Wonderland was still in chaos with your arrival; happy chaos, that is. Everyone who disliked one another began warming up to each other. People did things that we never thought quite possible then. Mousy and I…well, we sorted out our differences. As we started spending more time with each other, I found my hidden love for her, and her for myself. Time flew by, really. The next thing we knew, we had four children. Although, we stopped at four, we did not want so many that too many people felt left out, including ourselves and the town members. In the time between having our second and third child, we became each other's; officially. Oh, how wonderful the wedding was, Miss Alice. The entire town came out to see. Soon, we found this little cottage for our family. We made sure to look near the rabbit hole entrance because it reminded us of you; after all, it was you that brought us together, mistakenly. We thank you, Miss Alice."

"That is such a beautiful story, Mouse and Mr. Cheshire."

"I know, Alice. It kills me each time." Mr. Gray Rabbit stated, dabbing his eyes with a (gray) cloth.

"I do not mean to intrude the happy—or semi-happy— moment, but may I hear what happened to the town now?"

"Of course. Mr. Gray Rabbit, if you would?" Cheshire asked.

"Affirmative. Miss Alice. You truly made a big mark on Wonderland. It made us all so happy. We felt alive and experienced things that we will never forget. The problem is we did not realize it until you left. Sometimes, while I am at home in my study, I think. I think about what would have happened if you stayed a bit longer. My guess was that, people would realize their new happiness as well as be able to enjoy it with you. However, with you gone, we could not. People began to feel more sad than happy. Everywhere you would go people would say: 'If only Alice was here....', 'Remember that time Alice did…', or 'What do you think we would be doing if Alice was with us'. It was a terrible crisis. Somehow, that longing for you, turned into rage somehow. We would then hear: 'I cannot believe that Alice would come down here and leave us like this!', 'Oh if I had my hands on Alice right now. .', 'I never want to see Alice ever again!' Everyone was in such a range. Except for us, that is. After that, people began to lose their rage and became what they are now. Dreary. This is the reason why I cannot take you back there, Miss Alice. It would be too hard on the others. The other side of town where everyone else lives is entirely dark. The grayest dark you could ever imagine."

"Mr. Gray Rabbit. I am truly sorry for what I have done. I know I should not have come in the first place."

"Oh, Alice! Do not say such a thing. Cheshire and I would not be even speaking to one another right now and our beloved children would not be born."

"Oh. Well, I am happy for you and your family." Alice stood up attempting to suppress her sudden sorrow. "However, I believe it is time I leave before I cause any more damage. It was nice meeting you two once again, though. Additionally, thanks much for the story of Wonderland, now Drearyland."

"Yes, yes. Now, I will escort Miss Alice back to her world."  
All four of them said their byes; Alice and Mr. Gray Rabbit began to depart.

"Bye bye."

"Good bye, Miss Alice." Cheshire waved.

"Bye, Alice deary." Mouse hugged her.

As Alice walked out into the dreary air, she heard something. Mr. Gray Rabbit's ears perked up. Cheshire and Mouse looked out their door. They all saw something they wish they had not seen.

"IT'S HER! IT'S ALICE!"

An angry mob of all the people she encountered were approaching. They were far from happy and far from dreary. They were so close to her. All the faces of people she knew and loved. Before she knew it, a bunch of weapons of all sorts began to head in the direction of her heart.

Alice let out the biggest scream she ever screamed in her life.

"ALICE! PLEASE! No more naps for you if you're just going to keep having nightmares like this! Now come on, Taylor is waiting for us in the car to go to the park." Alice's sister exclaimed then left her room, shaking her head in disgust.

Alice began doubling over with laughter again. It was all just a dream. Like the first time. Good-bye Wonder and Dreary land.

THE END!


End file.
